American Poetry

This course, designed for English majors and for those with an interest inmodern American poetry, will begin with a quick but intensive survey ofpoetics -- rhythm and meter, stanza and verse conventions, open and closedforms, etc. We will read Whitman and Dickinson in depth, then move to thework of the major modernists (Eliot, Pound, Crane, Moore, Williams, H. D.and Stevens). In the final third of the course, we will read contemporary poets both male and female, representing a wide range of backgrounds and influences. These will include Bishop, Lowell, Roethke, Berryman, Brooks, Ginsberg, Rich and others. Requirements include active participation, short writing assignments for each class, one paper and a take-home final.